Tonight I have my first readthrough for Unlicensed, the serial play that I’m performing in on October 16 & 17. It’s an eight-part (I think) play set in a world where entertainment is controlled by the government under a new amendment to the Constitution, so independent theatre becomes illegal and goes underground. Each episode furthers the story of a renegade theatre company trying to make theatre while avoiding the feds. Pretty cool idea, right? I’m in episode 2 and my character returns later in the series.

I’m really, really looking forward to going back to doing theatre. I haven’t done anything in over a year (bar one short play last autumn) and I was missing it. So come and see me! In episode one my character was called an unbearable c**t and an evil whore by one of the main characters (I play his ex-wife), so if that doesn’t intrigue you I don’t know what will! I’m also working on new monologues (after a great coaching/monologue search session yesterday that got me back on track) and I’m enjoying the line-learning challenge again.

Last night I went on a movie date with my buddy Amy to see Senna. My brother wrote a brilliant review of this documentary about Ayrton Senna, the F1 driver who was killed in 1994, and so I was very glad to be able to catch it in the cinema. Even if you don’t care about Formula 1, it’s a gripping and heartbreaking story, superbly directed and edited. According to Amy (who is American), it was harder to follow if you know absolutely nothing about F1 (it really gets no coverage in the US unless you’re a fan, so the minimal amount I know through osmosis apparently made enough of a difference in terms of enjoyment). I think being old enough to remember when he died was also helpful; I was 13 at the time and didn’t know anything about racing, but I have distinct memories of the shock at his death and all the news coverage. The manner of his death was so awful, given the two terrible crashes during the qualifying laps the day before (one driver walked away, one was killed) and as you saw Senna in his car preparing for the race, looking tense and worried, you wanted to shout ‘DON’T RACE!’ across 17 years of history. The way that the director was able to build this tension was masterful. I really recommend watching this film.

In a week or so, I’m going to the first reading of a show that I will be performing in for two nights only in October. It’s going to feel great to get back on stage again, even for a couple of nights, as I have hardly done any theatre in the last year or so. Concentrating on film has been rewarding, but sporadic, as the shoot times are always very short and can be few and far between. Getting in some solid rehearsals and performing live is great training and you have a completely different interaction with your audience (mainly because you can actually see them).

Coyote Love went away last weekend to chill and record at our wonderful friends’ house in the woods of New York State. To say their house is idyllic is a small understatement. I’m going to write a post for the Coyote blog on that shortly, so I will save the descriptions till then and just say that we had an absolute ball. Great food, wonderful company, quality recording and I got sent home with a dozen fresh eggs from Karen and Henning’s chickens. Thanks guys.

I am in a non-deep mood today and so I am ranting about finding trousers [pants]. Why is it so hard for them to fit me? Why do they have to be perfect except they are crazy tight in the crotch, or the pockets pull away and give me saddlebags, or they are just so ridiculously long that I can’t even figure out if they look nice? Or they just don’t exist, and the shops are full of ultra-skinny and cropped trousers that are built for 6 foot tall giants who weigh as much as a small hamster. All I want is to look like Katharine Hepburn in her awesome wide-leg trousers, for less than $50. Is that so much to ask?